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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · shower · ground · craft · lie · present · snap · vault

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. ground — crushed
  3. craft — a skill
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ground — the earth
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. present — there
  10. craft — boats
  11. present — a gift
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cold — not warm
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. present — the time now
  21. ground — a position
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. lie — to recline

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com